Blog Archives
Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #4: Carrefour
Shuteye #4: Carrefour Now Available! $4
Huzzah, this time around I was able to instantly catch the connection from the last issue to #4! It only took me 4 issues to figure all that out, I must be the smartest man alive. This is another solid issue in this series, a bit different this time out because the tone has changed to one of constant terror. The man from the last issue, J.P, wakes up to start things off this time around, happy that at least his last dream (issue #3) at least wasn’t the recurring nightmare he’s been having. In his nightmare he’s being pursued by a creepy, bearded cajun guy (or maybe just a french guy) who seems to be out to do him harm. J.P. starts losing his grip on reality almost instantly, confusing his waking life with his images of the nightmare cajun, seeing him in his record shop, on the street, and accompanying J.P.’s girlfriend. Paranoia rarely leads to happy endings, but I’ll say no more to avoid spoilers. Like I said, another solid issue and I’m looking forward to one day putting these all together and making sense of the whole thing. $4
Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #3: Night and Day
Shuteye #3: Night and Day Now Available! $4
I’ve known about Sarah’s work for right around a year now, and it already makes my day when I get a new comic from her in the mail. This is the story of a young couple who seem to completely love each other, but have to deal with roommates and their families not approving of their relationship for different reasons. They decide to take a long camping trip to get away from it all, and end up stumbling across a house in the middle of nowhere, and any more than that gives the whole thing away. This may (emphasis on the “may” here, as I like most of her stuff) be the best comic that Sarah has done yet. She sets up the difficulties of the relationship beautifully and deals with the awful truth of that house as honestly as possible. She also points out in the letter that came with this something I hadn’t picked up on, that the end of every Shuteye focuses in on one person dreaming and that person carries on over to the next issue. Missed that one completely, probably because I’ve been reading these things months apart. Anyway, it looks gorgeous and has a great story. What more do you need? And I’m going to guess that this one is $4 too…
Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #2: The Liar
Shuteye #2: The Liar Now Available! $4
OK, I’m officially impressed. Look, I’ve been doing this site for almost five years now and reading minis for twice as long as that (or so), so seeing something that’s genuinely different from the usual is always a thrill. This one is about a boy who’s always travelling (and drunk, apparently) and his desire to fit in somewhere, anywhere… but also his inability to be honest to those around him or even to himself. In the end we’re left wondering what of what we’ve just read is real and what isn’t, but she manages to pull that off without ever seeming like a cliche hollywoodish twist ending. And if you think I’m telling you too much you may be right, but she says it right on the back of the comic so it can’t be too much of a secret. It’s probably still a bit too early to say for sure, but so far Sarah seems like a new, unique voice in the world of small press comics, and another one of those is always a good thing in my book.
Becan, Sarah – Shuteye #1: Vea
Shuteye #1: Vea Now Available! $4
This is the last of Sarah’s current list of books that I’m getting around to reviewing (just in case anybody comes here wondering how this all works chronologically, and it’s a horrible mess that way, so please don’t bother), and it’s another impressive effort. It’s about a man named Vea who deserts from a company of explorers in the Banda Oriental and his eventual time in an Indian camp. Vea spends a day with the Indians, only to wake up the next day to find that everybody has either vanished or changed significantly from the night before. This happens every day, no matter if he takes a wife the night before, fights in a battle, anything that happens is forgotten on a daily basis, to the point where Vea can’t even remember the life he had before the village. His story becomes a legend around his old group of explorers, although no one knows how much of it is real, if any of it, or what really happened to Vea. This is based on a story from David Becan and it’s a fascinating concept, although used in various forms in various other stories. It’s done extremely well here and this one, along with pretty much any of her other books, is well worth checking out. $4
